The Ugly/Threatening Gear of our Militarized US Local Police Departments Comes in View in Durham, NC

[KoKo]

DURHAM — A month after Jesús “Chuy” Huerta died in police custody, dozens of armored police officers assembled as an alliance of about 150 friends, families and protesters marched for a second time on the Durham Police Department Thursday evening.

Police, some dressed in riot gear and equipped with rifles and shotguns, assembled in rows around the building, waiting, as the marchers streamed toward police property around 7:30 p.m., demanding answers for a family's pain.



Protest organizers and police alike had in prior days urged marchers to remain peaceful, hoping to avoid the window-breaking and small number of arrests that marked the first protest for Huerta.

Thursday’s march, however, ended with several more arrests. Firecrackers and at least one bottle was thrown by protesters. Then several canisters of gas discharged by police before the crowd finally dispersed around 9 p.m.

The uproar over Huerta's death has calmed little in the last few weeks, seeming only to intensify with Chief Jose Lopez's claim that the 17-year-old shot himself in the head while his hands were cuffed behind his back in a police cruiser.

Grief and anger coursed through the crowd Thursday as it ended its march from downtown to the police department, urged on by pounding drums. At the edge of the parking lot, the dozens of officers who had shadowed the march began to shout commands: “Exit the parking lot now!” Trespassers, they warned, would face arrest.

The crowd pushed into the lot. Huerta's family and friends gathered around a light pole at the lot's edge, while protesters with long black banners – “MURDERED BY POLICE,” one read – wrapped around the crowd's edge.

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/12/19/3473638/police-turn-out-in-force-to-monitor.html#storylink=cpy



Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/12/19/3473638/police-turn-out-in-force-to-monitor.html#storylink=cpy

http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/12/19/3473638/police-turn-out-in-force-to-monitor.html

[Dawson Leery]

1. Don't cry for cops when they complain about their job.

[Th1onein]

2. Damn. More and more we're looking like one of those third world countries.

Where the people have to mass against the ptb, to get any justice. And I have a bad feeling it's going to get worse.

[Swede Atlanta]

8. We are a 3rd world country....

In statistic after statistic we are failing.....education, health care, mortality, quality of water, air, quality of food, happiness, etc.

We used to be the envy of the world and I suggest that while it was softening in 1980 it was the selection of Ronnie Raygun that was the beginning of the end. His "trickle down" economic policies, his foreign policy of sleeping with Iran and giving the money to central american dictators to his refusal to acknowledge and invest in treatments for HIV spelled out how "saintly" he was.

He was no saint. He was about as bad as they come.

We now live in a fascist military surveillance state.

[ReRe]

10. +1

[zeemike]

14. I think you are right, it really started with Raygun.

But I don't think even he knew what he was doing, I think he was just an actor playing the role as president and the real power was behind the curtin...and remains there today.

[Jackpine Radical]

18. I'd take it back to Nixon.

For one thing, that's when Kissinger laid down a Realpolitik approach to the Middle East, basically giving the green light to the creation of OPEC (then mostly a Saudi entity) and the subsequent "energy crisis" that led to the inflation of the Carter years and all that followed.

And don't forget the War on Drugs (trans. War on Dissidents), Kent State, the "Secret" War in Cambodia, etc.

[Egalitarian Thug]

20. I'd go back to McKinley and Roosevelt, they started all this by fighting back on the behalf

of the little people. Busting up the trusts wrecked a power base built over three generations on these shores. It inspired and unleashed the people's own power.

Pretty much the entire political history of the U.S. since has been about this class undoing what those administrations did to restrain the robber barons.

[Jackpine Radical]

25. I think it maybe started with King Knut

when he attempted to portray the limits of royal power by ordering the tides to retreat.

[zeemike]

22. I would not argue with that.

It is just that with Raygun it became popular, and the media was under control.

[awoke_in_2003]

40. Nixon's visit to china...

was the first nail in the coffin for the American worker.

[Jackpine Radical]

41. And we had no idea at the time.

Liberals like me were celebrating it as a step toward world peace.

[awoke_in_2003]

42. I was born in 68...

so I don't remember much about it, although I think the move was applauded in the news. I can say I was happy about patching things up with Viet Nam, until I thought about it a bit. Of course, I had the benefit of history to help me think that one through.

[CrispyQ]

37. Ronnie swayed a lot of democrats.

I was stunned at the number of dems I knew who voted for him. They were all well-to-do dems & I think they were happy with the 'greed is good' message.

[awoke_in_2003]

39. And we have slipped

to at least 2nd world status with infrastructure.

[xchrom]

3. du rec.

[politichew]

4. If they want this overkill gear, it should come out of their pensions.

I bet they'd demilitarize pretty fast then.

[KoKo]

6. I think it's being forced on them. Chertoff Group and others working to

sell the gear and the states and local communities pay up out of our Tax Dollars.

What worries me is that when you dress up local police like that it could lead to a "combat zone" mentality among those officers. It pits them as invincible against their own people. Power like that could go to some of their heads and then you get one or two hot head cops almost provoking violence (as was the case in Durham from reports of other news folks who observed the whole incident ).

[Warpy]

9. It has been just that, ever since Nixon

had all his paranoid fantasies about a few scruffy college students overthrowing him and turning the country Communist.

After Nixon, the excuse was the war on drugs.

About the only thing I can see helping this is defunding the cops to the point they have to sell off all that warware to buy bullets for their .38s.

It's just plain stupid to give them things like APCs. If the bad guys are a bunch of militia nuts holed up somewhere, call in the National Guard.

Then again, the PTB never see the far right wing as a problem.

[Jackpine Radical]

19. That is absolutely what it does.

You take a bunch of war-traumatized kids fresh back from the ME, put them back in uniform, arm them with combat gear & armored vehicles, etc.--and guess how they're gonna react!

[Savannahmann]

28. The Combat Zone mentality has existed for years

In an interesting coincidence the wife and I were talking about the cops just last night. I told her about Anaheim California, where I spent some time growing up. The law in California was that the police were supposed to shoot to wound. That law was changed to Shoot to stop. In other words, as long as the guy was upright, or moving, you could keep shooting.

Three officers in Anaheim California chased a man on foot. Witnesses including those not wearing uniforms said that the man suddenly turned and reached inside his jacket. Three police officers opened fire, this was right after every department adopted the Beretta 9mm as the weapon of choice. They fired nearly twenty rounds of ammunition, killing the man.

Now, the law hadn't been changed for very long, a couple months. But these officers were already up to speed on what they could do, they could keep shooting until the man fell down. The old training of shoot to wound disappeared from their minds in a couple months.

That was in the 1980's, and things haven't gotten any better. In fact, they've gotten worse. The laws continue to change, and now you have to show that the cop is basically a psychopath before you can get him suspended with pay. Getting him charged, much less convicted of a serious crime is nearly impossible.

No threat to the police will be tolerated. No objection to their seemingly endless authority goes unanswered. The Beltway sniper killed far more people, in a far more "important" part of the nation than did Christopher Dorner. But the different responses were obvious. The Beltway Sniper was just targeting civilians. Dorner was hunting cops. In fact, while hunting Dorner they shot up a pickup truck that did not match the make, or model, or color of the one they were searching for. But hey, the cops have a dangerous job right? http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2292637/Christopher-Dorner-Women-truck-shot-LAPD-officers-hunting-fugitive-refuse-replacement-asked-pay-tax-pose-publicity-photos-police.html

The manhunt for the Boston Bombers was not what you would call Civilized, but it went well overboard once a cop got killed. Then the rulebook went out the window, and it was full militarized police presence everywhere. Armored vehicles, turret gunners, and cops wearing more body armor than soldiers in Afghanistan storming the streets with automatic rifles. Holding citizens at gunpoint while houses were searched. This is for your protection, because if I'm not pointing a machine gun at you then you might say something or do something that would make me want to shoot you.

I've said it before today, I'll say it again. Fuck the police.

[Dawson Leery]

47. K/R

There is a reason why I strongly oppose any collective bargaining rights for those who have the enforcement authority of the government.

[CrispyQ]

38. We the People are the terrorists, now.

Here's who they serve & protect now.

[ReRe]

12. Wonder what they would do if protesters showed up in riot gear themselves?

[malthaussen]

5. Sad. It looks like a still from a bad dystopian movie.

Unfortunately, it's real.

-- Mal

[grandpamike1]

7. When will

the public realize that the police serve and protect the corporations and the 1%, not the average, law abiding citizen.

[Phlem]

21. "law abiding citizen"

laws are made for the unwashed. They're there to protect the 1%. That's what I see in the photo's.

-p

[blkmusclmachine]

11. The Police State

9/11 was just an appetizer

[Jesus Malverde]

13. What we don't see is the sickness, the combat ready killer instinct

That has been instilled in these men and women through 13 years of unending wars...

Many police officers on our streets today served in some of the most stressful, pointless, vicious combat ever.

[NuclearDem]

15. It's alright, totally not a police state though.

We have coffee shops and are allowed to talk to our friends.

[azurnoir]

16. 'To protect and serve' seems to have been kicked to the curb

and they (the cops) have seen the enemy-sadly it seems to be anyone who's not one of them

[cvoogt]

17. Police urge protesters to remain peaceful

Now that is rich

[Taitertots]

26. It is almost laughable, because they are the only people initiating violence

The police are beating innocent people with sticks while they "urge" THEM to be peaceful.

[PM Martin]

51. The pork is inciting violence.

[HereSince1628]

23. They look remarkably like the cops in Soylent Green

[JEB]

24. The cops are a bunch of chickenshits all geared up

for a grieving family and their friends. Those very white cops in their thug duds must really be scared of brown people.

[KoKo]

33. I think that's the "Mind Set" that's being recruited...but ..there are still

probably some few who aren't that way. I hate to "Tar all with same Brush" ..but, I worry these uniforms will attract those who are part of a Fascist Mentality who will Drown Out those who really don't want to be "Duded Up" like they are in some cases (yes, I believe some of these guys/gals aren't into this Military Fascist Garb) but...it will attract those who are Drawn to this Militaristic Gear and Persona. Attracking folks who have no idea about "Personal Liberties" that many of the rest of us WERE TAUGHT was TRUE about America that differentiated this from those "Cold War Nations" we fought for years after WWII!

[mmonk]

27. I live in North Raleigh which is close to Durham. A little further south,

my cousin lives in Charleston, SC where she was arrested for a DUI. She was beaten while in custody and is now permanently disabled. Something is ugly wrong with America right now.

[KoKo]

30. I'm so sorry to hear

about your cousin in Charleston. That's awful. Agree something is "ugly wrong with America right now." There's either anger or apathy. Not hopeful.

I hear things are great in Silicon Valley, New York area and DC. But it seems a very down mood this year around our area in the SE.

[mmonk]

31. The thing is she is small, wouldn't hurt a fly, and will be 56 in January.

She nearly lost her life and had to go through a series of surgeries. I have no faith now in the system or people.

[Enthusiast]

29. "Justice for all", I think not. K&R...................nt

[BelgianMadCow]

32. Add in a couple of drones, throw in some flashbangs, think of the live tracking

of the uppity people going on, and face the music.

One could make a collage of pictures like this all around the world. We live in demockracies, for the most part. Managed democracy, Sheldon Wolin calls it in his description of inverted totalitarianism. It's obvious for those that make it a point to follow and dig into protests & repression, but it will soon be impossible to miss.

But remember - what the security forces decide to do makes but also breaks the system.

I refer to the portuguese army, whose sergeants iirc have said should the people rise up, they would not stand in the way.
I refer to police in Italy taking off their helmets in an apparent show of support with the pitchfork protest.
I refer to the Brussels police chief, who said we couldn't march like planned because our group was smaller than expected, but who made it a point to respect our desire to have no leaders, and who made sure our trajectory went past Dexia bank, even though we didn't know it did until we saw Dexia.

So don't forget, many in the security forces are still human. Talk to them.

[Egalitarian Thug]

34. All this for 150 sad people armed with hot wax...

[KoKo]

35. Kick...I think our local Police looking like some Riot Police from STASI Days

deserves a view. This is coming to all our HOME TOWNS/CITIES. If this could happen against an Hispanic Population in NC...it's coming to YOUR TOWN ...CITY...and WHEREVER YOU LIVE if you protest ANY CAUSE!

[bvar22]

45. Hmmmm.

All our modern wannabe Storm Troopers lack is the Death's Head insignia
to complete the costume.

[woo me with science]

36. K&R

[Uncle Joe]

43. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, KoKo.

[gulliver]

44. What we really need instead of all these helmets and padding...

...is a sign-up sheet for guard detail around public facilities about to be marched to by angry crowds. In this case, the cops would not come out at all. We would just call in the volunteers and they could wear official "property guard" T-shirts and jeans. That way the crowd would not have any reason to feel intimidated. I assume the OP would volunteer.

[KoKo]

46. There's an unequal weighting between these Officers

Last edited Sat Dec 21, 2013, 03:31 PM - Edit history (1)

dressed for battle...(as if they are anticipating being under siege by armed for battle protestors) and the photo of those who were peacefully protesting over a young man cuffed in the back of a police car who was found dead supposedly by shooting himself while handcuffed when the officer left him to file a report. The family has waited a month for information about how their son died while handcuffed.

It's hard to understand why Riot Gear and shotguns was the choice of the Durham police against ordinary citizens who were not equally armed or dressed for battle unless it was for intimidation and threat.

[gulliver]

48. It's just appearance.

Large groups of people aren't anything to play with, especially if they are protesting something like a suspicious death. One minute they can be holding candles and praying, the next minute bottles and rocks can start flying. Mobs have been known to kill people, especially unarmed people.

We all only have a couple of eyes, a basic set of teeth, and so forth. I don't blame a cop for wanting a helmet, face mask, and pads. It probably reduces the likelihood of bloodshed. A cop who gets hit in the eye with a bottle might end up shooting someone. The person throwing the bottle and taking out a cop's eye can end up with a felony charge, prison time, and an extremely tough life. As bad as it looks, the pads probably protect the citizens as much as the cops.

[KoKo]

49. You think a "bottle or a rock" is equivalent to Police Intimidation

by Armed Police in RIOT GEAR, Scary people that WE and those PROSTESTING pay for in our Tax Dollars for them to come and "Dress Up" to intimidate those Lawfully Protesting is just our "Police doing their job and they should be be "better armed" armed than the People there who don't have "padded protection" and Shot Guns and Pistols along with Face Gear?

[woo me with science]

50. kick